Simplicity Broadmoor 717 steering problems?

Hi so My broadmoor just got a new motor which is a 14 hp twin. since I did the swap it has really hard steering to the rite. I think it is because the motor is so heavy but I dont know. If anyone has any tips ore better steering ideas send me a reply thanks

Sounds like the linkage is binding up on something. Most likely related to the engine swap since it's a new symptom.

Anyway, when I had my Broadmoor, it didn't steer all too well anyway. The front tires "plowed" instead of gripped. I wanted it to steer more like a gokart not a tractor, so I did some modification to the front axle. Here's what I did to make it steer 10 times better:

Cut a notch in the top of the axle next to the kingpin and tip the top of the kingpin in towards the motor, creating NEGATIVE CAMBER.

Rotate the front axle rearwards (or just twist the top of the kingpin rearwards while doing the camber mod) to create POSTITVE CASTER.

Be sure to weld it back together correctly or you could end up with a 2 or 3 wheeler!

I'm going from memory, but I know these tractors steer like crap. This will help a lot!

Look up the steering terminology on google. Here's a couple pics.CAMBER

Standing still, the steering will be 10 times harder obviously. But doing this will force any steering problems to show themselves pretty quickly.

Can you post a pic of the steering mechanism? I forget what that all looks like.

Try lifting the front end onto a jack. Then cycle the steering and look / listen for any scraping / binding etc... If the problem goes away, then take it off the jack and repeat the test. You will eventually find the problem if you go slow and pay attention and look really closely to all the components.

Looking at the angle of those king pins YIKES! Even if the steering wheel is easy to turn, the tractor itself isn't going to like changing direction lol.